


Recovery

by chaWOOPa



Series: Red Vs Blue Short Stories [7]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 17:51:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3390710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaWOOPa/pseuds/chaWOOPa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wash goes Missing in a Domestic AU setting and Tucker doesn't take it too well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recovery

It was hard for Tucker to get used to sleeping alone again after Wash went missing. He spent many nights acutely aware of the empty space at his back and many mornings grasping desperately at the cold sheets in Wash’s spot. For months he would wake up every morning wishing for an out and never having the energy to try and find one until Church took him drinking one night. The stronger the drink the less he felt and the less he felt the greater a blessing it was. He could forget for a moment that the man he loved was missing.

For nearly six months Tucker’s routine revolved around the bottle; wake up, drink; Write his portion of the paper, drink; ask for news of Wash or Junior, drink; until all he knew was the bottom of a bottle until Carolina got fed up. She found him at the bar and she lost it. It had been nearly six months since Wash had gone missing and Carolina couldn't stand to see Tucker like that anymore. It took some convincing, but Carolina with the help of several of Tucker's other friends managed to get Tucker on the path to recovery. They help him stand up, but Tucker was the one who decided to take the steps.

It wasn’t easy for Tucker to claw his way out of the grave he had dug himself. He still had days where all he wanted to do was drink, but as time went by those days became less and less frequent. With the help of his friends, Tucker became less and less dependent on alcohol. He was at the front of every effort to help the community. A kid went missing? Tucker was the first person to go looking. Someone was attacked? Tucker was the first one there to comfort and cheer them or their loved ones up. His mantra became "What would Wash Do?" and by the time anyone heard anything about Wash again Tucker had all but quit drinking aside from when Church took him out, sometimes accompanied by York and/or Carolina. One such Friday, Church had told him he would meet him at the bar, but then hadn’t shown up. By the time York and Carolina got there, Tucker was ready to just go home. He had had a hard week. He didn’t actually care all that much that they were late and Church hadn’t shown. After a few minutes, however, he noticed Carolina’s white face and nervous fidgeting.

“Are you okay?” He asked her. She looked at York and he nodded.

“You haven’t been home since Tuesday, why don’t we go hang out there? You can relax a little better there, I think.” Carolina stood up and pulled Tucker out of his seat before he could protest.

Tucker sighed and let her drag him out of the bar and into her car. If he had actually cared at that point he would have protested, but he was only one and half small drinks in and he could already feel the gaping maw of the black abyss he had worked so hard to crawl out of. One and half small glasses, he decided, was enough.

They arrived at Tucker’s house and the first thing Tucker noticed was Church’s car. “Carolina why is Church at my house?”

“I will follow you in when York gets here with your car, you go ahead,” was all Carolina said in response.

Tucker climbed out the car and approached his house cautiously, a million awful situations running through his head. Carolina's nervousness and Church's absence at the bar paired up with Church's car in front of his house added up to nothing good in Tucker's head. He opened the front door and before he was even all the way in the house he froze. The house smelled of Wash’s famous chocolate chip cookies. “Church, what the fuck are you doing here?” Tucker felt anger and sadness well up in his chest as he started towards the source of the smell. How dare he go into Tucker’s house without telling him and bake the one thing that could send Tucker soaring right back into the hole he had just climbed out of. “You are a fucking ass-hole, you know that? You saw firsthand how much it hurt when Wash went missing and as soon as I am as okay as I can be with him still gone you pull this shit? No. Fuck. Yo-”

He rounded the corner into the kitchen and was swept off his feet in one of the tightest hugs he had ever been in. “I am so, so, so sorry, Tucker.” Wash’s voice was small and almost as broken as Tucker had felt when he first found out Wash was gone.

Tucker froze. “W-wash?”

“I am so sorry I hurt you so much,” Tucker’s eyes were wide as he pulled away from Wash.

His wide eyes took in the slightly malnourished and sleep deprived man in front of him and he felt his heart soar. In that moment there was no one in the universe happier than Tucker was. After a second he threw himself back into Wash’s arms, holding him tight. “You are home now, and that is all that matters.” He pulled his face out of Wash’s chest and stood on his toes so he could kiss him.

That night Tucker slept curled in Wash’s arms for the first time in almost two years. It had been a long time since Tucker had slept with someone else, but he was asleep within seconds. He hadn't ever gotten used to sleeping alone anyway. 


End file.
